Börek
↔ Varies by recipeBörek is a family of pastries and pies made with thin, flaky dough such as filo, found across West Asia and Southeast Europe. Its development is closely tied to the Ottoman Empire, where Turkish and Sephardic cooking traditions came together, and it remains a staple from Turkey to the Balkans.
History
The exact origin of börek is unclear, and several cultures claim it. Layering thin dough with fillings appears independently in many traditions. One theory links the dish to the ancient Greek plakous and to the placenta, a baked layered cake of cheese and honey from Greek, Roman and Byzantine cooking. Through the Armenians, this heritage may have reached the Levant in the Middle Ages.
Another theory connects börek to the Turkic custom of making thin flatbread called yufka, sometimes layered with butter or filling. The word börek appears in medieval sources, including an 11th-century Turkic dictionary and a 14th-century Chinese cookbook that describes a relative filled with mutton. The refinement of filo in Ottoman imperial kitchens is often mentioned, although this is disputed.
From Turkey the dish spread through the Balkans. In the former Yugoslavia, the round Serbian burek, rich in fat, and the rolled Bosnian burek filled with meat became established, while in Albania the dish is called byrek. Albanian and Bosnian bakers later carried these recipes to Croatia and Slovenia.
Culture
In Turkey börek is part of everyday life and is usually served with ayran or tea. Su böreği, made with white cheese, is among the best-known varieties. In the Balkans it is even more routine: it is bought in bakeries and in specialist shops, known as buregdžinica in Bosnian or Serbo-Croatian, and eaten as a quick meal, usually with yogurt. In Serbia it is ordered by weight and filling, and in Belgrade it is often eaten with a fork.
Among Sephardic Jews, börek had its own place, and bourekas were traditionally served at Saturday morning breakfast. Fillings vary by region, with cheese, minced meat, spinach or potato, and in some places it is baked in a tray and cut into portions. Today börek appears in restaurants and bakeries in many countries, adapted to local tastes.